News Archive - 2003

November 19, 2003

Keanu's Biography airs at last!

Fans were especially happy to see the A&E Biography episode about Keanu Reeves air at long last (it was originally schedule to air in May but was pulled at the last minute for reasons unknown).  But this show was well worth the wait.  Biography did a very good job of encapsulating Keanu's life, covering a good amount of his professional career while treating his personal life with as much respect as could manage while still covering areas which Keanu would probably prefer remain private.

Of special interest to Bill and Ted fans was the fact Alex Winter was interviewed for the show and appeared many times during the program to comment on his friend Keanu's life.  Alex explained how he and Keanu spent their early time together during pre-production on Excellent Adventure.  "I'd just come in from New York City, he'd just come down from Toronto, so both of us spent a lot of time just hanging out around beaches and soaking up the language."  Alex later commented on the Bill and Ted phenomenon by saying, "Neither of us were expecting that kind of reception.  Nobody expected it to have the cultural impact that it had.  It changed both of our lives dramatically.  Recognition factor went from low to off the scale and I think it was pretty overwhelming for him.  Overnight he had suddenly become this other person and had been, sort of, retrofit into Tedville."

On Bogus Journey, the show was a little more critical, saying that the movie did not capture the box office success or the humor of its predecessor.  Alex went on to say, laughing quite hard as he spoke, "Bill was just becoming like a cynical drunk, and Ted just seemed lost at sea and it was funny for one movie, but um, I think he had a bit of trouble with the second one."  The narrator pointed out, to paraphrase, that because of Ted, Keanu was labeled as an airhead himself.  Alex went on to say "Because of the success of the movies and because of his success playing that character they would stick "whoa" or "dude" into every interview, every movie that he did, which really helped to propagate a myth."

A&E will likely air Keanu's Biography again, so to catch the show check the official
Biography site by clicking here!

November 10, 2003

Keanu featured on E! True Hollywood Story.  Well, semi-true , anyway.

E! True Hollywood Story finally made Keanu the subject of an episode which debuted on November 9th.  Of interest to Bill and Ted fans are several interviews which E! pulled from their archives featuring Keanu and Alex joking around together on the set of Bogus Journey during an interview they did with the cable network in 1991.  There were several segments not previously aired on E!, one of which showed Alex pointing out that Keanu was born in Lebanon and then making a crack about his mom not exactly being there for the scenery!  Another moment showed Alex explaining the difference between Bill & Ted, explaining that Bill tends to make more exaggerated and shocked expressions.  And a very funny moment happened when Keanu stuck his face into Alex's shot and Alex calmly explained to Keanu that he owed him five bucks for stealing a close up from him, then told the interviewer he was rich from the money he'd made off Keanu "stealing shots" in the film.

What was a bit strange about the way Keanu's history was presented, particularly regarding Bill & Ted, was that the interviews from the set of Bogus Journey (and one snippet of an interview E! did with Keanu and Alex during the press junket for Bogus Journey) were all shown while the narrator was talking about Excellent Adventure.  In fact the show talked quite a bit about the first Bill & Ted movie and made absolutely no mention of the sequel, even though the interviews were all done for Bogus Journey!  Also they said that Excellent Adventure was released in the summer of 1989 when it was actually released in February of that year (it was NOT a summer movie).

The nicest surprise was a brief and unexpected interview with actor Terry Camilleri!  After explaining the basic plot of Excellent Adventure and pointing out that he played Napoleon in that film, Terry went on to talk about Keanu, saying "You could tell he was going to go somewhere . . . he was gonna keep going, it wasn't just going to stop here.  There was just an aura about him, just sense about him that you had that you knew he was going to keep going."  It was really special to see Terry talking about the movie and so nicely about Keanu.

The special overall was pretty good albeit predictably intrusive on Keanu's personal life, something Keanu has never cared for.  It's odd how the media continuously call Keanu "mysterious."  He simply doesn't think his private life is anyone's business, and frankly he's absolutely right!  And that's mysterious to reporters?  But at least this special on Keanu was done in a very positive light.  It's certain to continue to air on E! throughout the week and then in rotation with their other True Hollywood Story shows, so to check when it might be on look in your local listings or visit E!'s website by clicking here.

October 2, 2003

Who is . . . Bill & Ted?

While Bill and Ted may have found themselves in jeopardy in Bogus Journey, the movie itself was the subject of a question on an episode of Jeopardy which aired October 1st, 2003.  The television quiz show, which is celebrating its 20th anniversary this season, featured a category called "Films of the 90's" in the Double Jeopardy round and the first answer, a $400 answer, was "Back from their 'Excellent Adventure,' in 1991 this title pair left on a 'Bogus Journey.'  The female contestant who had picked the category rang in with the correct question, "Who are Bill & Ted?"  Oddly enough, the next $800 answer turned out to be a Daily Double and was "Some referred to this 1994 as 'Die Hard on a bus.'"  The female contestant also got this question correct, "What is Speed?"  And the contestant's name?  Elisabeth!  Not bad!

Want to know more about Jeopardy?  Visit their official website!

September 29. 2003

Son of a Cleese!  (Well, in-law anyway!)

Now here's an interesting bit of trivia!  In an interview writer / actor / director / armchair psychologist and Dead Parrot icon John Cleese (of Monty Python's Flying Circus among other outstanding things) gave to Britain's newspaper The Independent, Mr. Cleese discussed why he lives in California now.  Among the reasons included the fact that one of his daughters lives in a city not too far south of him and is married to none other than B&T writer Ed Solomon!  Imagine having John Cleese as your father-in-law!  Not bad!

To read the entire article, click here!

September 26, 2003

Ted . . . You're Alive!!!!

Had to share this bit of human interest fluff story which aired on our local news tonight . . . in San Carlos, California, it seems a cat named Ted (yes, named after Ted in Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure) wandered away from his owner Chris Engel's (sp?) home some ten years ago.  But amazingly Ted was turned over to an animal shelter in the Bay Area and workers there discovered the cat had an identifying microchip under his skin and were able to return the missing feline!  Ted was found only 13 miles south from where Chris used to live!  So where has Ted been all this time?  Perhaps lost amidst the Circuits of Time?  Or is it possible that Ted the Cat simply forgot to wind his watch and lost ALL track of time???  In any case, let's give a big air guitar for the safe return of Ted the Cat!  Excellent!!!!!

September 5, 2003

God Truly Has Given Rock and
Roll to Us in the Form of Steve Vai!

Thanks go out to BeN for alerting us to an album which was released in 2002 by guitar legend Steve Vai!  Steve Vai :  Elusive Light & Sound 1 and includes several tracks featured in Bill and Ted's Bogus Journey . . . including the now famous guitar riff which opens God Gave Rock and Roll to You II!  This has to be one of the most requested guitar bits at this site, and we're happy to report that now you can in fact purchase a CD which includes this segment!  Available at Amazon.com and CDnow.com plus many other online music stores (as well as regular stores, we would imagine).  For more information on Steve Vai, you can visit his official website by clicking here.  Excellent!!

September 1, 2003

WAS THERE A DEATH
BEFORE DEATH?
Amazingly enough, the answer is yes!

Babes and dudes, this may surprise you as much as it did me, but did you know Bill Sadler performed the character of Death before he immortalized the Grim Reaper in Bill and Ted's Bogus Journey?  It's true!  Read all about this amazing find by clicking here or on the photo of the early incarnation of Death to the left.  

August 6, 2003

AIR GUITAR IS ALIVE AND WELL!

Thanks to sharp eyed (and sharp eared) MeowJeff, a regular poster to our message boards, who happened to catch a segment on Last Call with Carson Daly regarding a young man who competed (but did not win) at the U.S. Air Guitar Championships, we were to learn of the actual winner of the contest . . . Dave Jung, a 31 year old who goes by the stage name of C-Diddy.  The actor / comedian took first place in the championships taking place in Los Angeles at the Roxy on June 23rd.  And what was one of the two songs performed by the new champ of this non-instrumental competition?  None other than Play With Me by Extreme, that outstanding piece played during the mall chase scene in Excellent Adventure!  A fitting number considering that Bill & Ted definitely helped to popularize air guitar in the late 80's and early 90's.  C-Diddy now goes to Finland to compete in the World Championships on August 28-29th!  First prize?  A real electric guitar!  Not bad!!!

For more information about the U.S. Air Guitar Championships, click here for their official site!

July 3, 2003

THE BEST THINGS COME IN SMALL PACKAGES!

Babes and dudes, be sure to check out our all new and exclusive interview with Arturo Gil, one of the actors who brought the Stations to life!  This gracious actor was kind enough to answer our question about working on the set of Bogus Journey, not to mention about his film career in general.  This is one most excellent dude, and you're definitely going to want to hear what he has to say!

Click here to go to the Arturo Gil Q&A!!

June 23, 2003

HELL HATH NO PIZZA . . . BUT
PIZZA HUT DOES!
AND BOGUS JOURNEY!

"Hell Hath No Pizza" was a line used in some of the television advertising for Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey back in 1991.  Apparently Hell has no Pizza Huts.  But fortunately for B&T fans America does!  A current ad for the pizza chain is advertising free a choice of free DVDs with the purchase of any large pizza at the regular price, and one of the choices happens to be Bogus Journey!  (The other choices are Honeymoon in Vegas, Mr. Mom and All Dogs Go to Heaven 2).

So pick up a pizza and get a free Bogus Journey!  Undoubtedly they'll be collector's items (premiums always are!) and what could be better than Bill and Ted and pizza???  Excellent!!!!

June 6, 2003

WOE TO ANYONE WISHING
KEANU TO SAY "WHOA!"

The 2003 MTV Movie Awards aired Thursday, June 5th on MTV and fans were happy to see Keanu appearing to present the final award of Best Movie.  Keanu's speech was a pre-arranged comedy bit in which he's reading from a teleprompter, one sentence which is leading to a final word to describe the five movies nominated.  When he comes to that word, he turns to offstage and announces he won't say it.  A lackey comes on to beg, plead with Keanu to finish the sentence but Keanu refuses.  Finally they come to an agreement . . . Keanu will read the first half and the lackey will say the final word, which turns out to be "Whoa!"  It was a cute routine, playing on Keanu's reputation for not going into B&T speak for just any reason, especially not as part of a pre-planned speech!  Obviously Keanu was just having fun with the whole thing, while Bill and Ted fans were left wishing for just one little "Whoa" so they could see Ted again!  What was even more humorous was the completely impromptu fan who shouted out "Wyld Stallyns!" while Keanu was opening the envelope!  Keanu smiled at this, showing he does appreciate Bill and Ted fans indeed!

Keanu gives the teleprompter a funny look when it comes
to the last word of his speech . . .

. . . then smiles as a fan shouts out Wyld Stallyns out of the blue!

May 6, 2003

A WHOLE LOTTA
MATRIX GOING ON!!

Unless you've been living under a rock (or in another century perhaps) you probably know that the latest installment of The Matrix is due to hit theaters in America on May 15th.  The buzz is that The Matrix Reloaded is even more exciting and spectacular than the original, and following on the heels of this release will be the third installment, The Matrix Revolutions in November 2003.

Keanu fans should note that Keanu is scheduled to appear on a variety of talk shows and Matrix specials in the coming weeks, not the least of which is A&E's Biography of Keanu which will air on May 27th!  Check your local listings and many of the terrific Keanu websites to find out more about these shows and specials!  If you happen to have TiVo, put Keanu on your wishlist and it will catch many of these programs for you (if you feel comfortable letting a computer have that much control over your TV viewing, that is!).

For more information on The Matrix - check out their official website here.

March 23, 2003

KEANU GIVES OSCAR!

For those of us who don't keep up with the current entertainment buzz, what a nice surprise it was to see Keanu Reeves present the award for Visual Effects early on in the 75th Annual Academy Awards tonight!  Keanu appeared to read the nominations in this category and presented the award to the visual effects team who worked on The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers.  Keanu looked solemn and smashing in his tuxedo, and was it our imagination or has his voice become huskier lately?  In any case, it was a nice treat for Keanu fans!

March 13, 2003

HAL LANDON, JR. GOES DiTECH!

    If you live anywhere in the United States you probably know the commercials well . . . the frustrated bank loan officer who constantly tries to find someone who will take out a mortgage loan with his bank but who is constantly thwarted by his clients (even his mom!) who instead choose to go with the online ease of DiTech.com instead.  The most recent of these ads debuted recently and features none other than Chet Logan himself, Hal Landon, Jr.!  In this spot, Hal plays a psychiatrist who listens as the bank officer complains about his predicament, and of course during the course of the consultation the psychiatrist becomes intrigued with his patient's talk about the competition and signs onto the DiTech website right then and there.  Hal even gets to utter the company's catchphrase . . . "Looks like you lost another loan to DiTech.com!"  This delightful appearance by Hal Landon, Jr. follows his stellar performance as a drunk monk on General Hospital several months ago (longtime GH character Luke Spencer got a monk sloshed so he could infiltrate a monastery).  We hope to continue to see Hal Landon, Jr. grace our television screens in any part, large or small.  Perhaps one day he'll even get to appear opposite the Geico Gekko!  That would be most excellent!!